Editorial: Organic carbon pools in permafrost regions on the Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Mu, C., Zhang, T., Wu, Q., Peng, X., Cao, B., Zhang, X., Cheng, G.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Arctic; permafrost; Thermokarst
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-479-2015; https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/479/2015/

The current Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database did not include organic carbon storage in permafrost regions on the Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau (QXP). In this study, we reported a new estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) pools in the permafrost regions on the QXP up to 25 m depth using a total of 190 soil profiles. The SOC pools were estimated to be 17.3 ± 5.3 Pg for the 0–1 m depth, 10.6 ± 2.7 Pg for the 1–2 m depth, 5.1 ± 1.4 Pg for the 2–3 m depth and 127.2 ± 37.3 Pg for the layer of 3–25 m depth. The percentage of SOC storage in deep layers (3–25 m) on the QXP (80%) was higher than that (39%) in the yedoma and thermokarst deposits in arctic regions. In total, permafrost regions on the QXP contain approximately 160 ± 87 Pg SOC, of which approximately 132 ± 77 Pg (83%) stores in perennially frozen soils and deposits. Total organic carbon pools in permafrost regions on the QXP was approximately 8.7% of that in northern circumpolar permafrost region. The present study demonstrates that the total organic carbon storage is about 1832 Pg in permafrost regions on northern hemisphere.